1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to tools and fixtures and, more specifically, to a portable roller support device.
2. Description of Related Art
Roller supports having adjustable height are widely available for use in workshop applications. These devices are used to allow the ends of long pieces of material to be supported while the user is working on the other end of the material (e.g. cutting the material with a chop saw). Roller supports include rollers to enable the user to slide the material longitudinally towards or away from him or herself, while still providing solid support for the material (i.e. in a horizontal direction).
The conventional roller supports typically further include at least some measure of height adjustability. The height adjustability is provided so that the roller support can be configured to work with varying table and/or tool heights. Many of these roller supports are further fitted with collapsible legs to allow the supports to be folded up and put away when not in use.
While the conventional roller supports are very useful for shop applications, they really are not very helpful for field applications. In the field, the user is many times working off of the ground and/or some other surface (e.g. a truck bed) that is not in the height range of the typical workbench or shop tool. In these situations, the user historically has been required to create a support structure, typically out of scrap material. These cobbled-together supports are rarely suitable, in part because they do not have the valuable rolling aspect to their support. Even though the conventional roller support stands to permit some height adjustment, they do not allow adjustment until the roller is a height corresponding to a chop saw resting on the ground.
What is needed, then, is a roller support that is portable and can be adjusted to the very low heights mandated for field applications.